{"id":28264,"date":"2015-11-18T13:33:45","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T19:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=21627"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:58:35","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:58:35","slug":"our-lady-of-the-cab-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/our-lady-of-the-cab-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Lady of the Cab Ride","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

HE <\/b>was a Muslim, and he was angry. As my fifteen\u00a0minute cab ride unfolded, the young, stocky Islamic man at the wheel did not mince words.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would you do if the Americans were bombing your wife and children? What would you<\/i> do?!\u201d He went on to justify the suicide bombers who were attacking American targets overseas. He was coming a bit unglued in his anger actually, and so I prayed for a moment, and then changed the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it true,\u201d I asked, \u201cthat Muslims honor the Blessed Virgin Mary?”<\/p>\n

All of sudden, the cabby’s face that had been twisted in anger in the rear view mirror began to unwind, along with his tone and demeanour.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes\u2026\u201d, he sighed. \u201cShe is the most beautiful of all women, a virgin, pure and holy.\u201d As he continued to speak of her, it was clear that this man had more devotion to Mary than many Catholics.<\/p>\n

As we pulled up to my destination, I leaned forward, patted him on the shoulder and said, \u201cMy friend, I am a Catholic. And I pray that someday, we will be brothers\u2014brothers of this same Mother.\u201d He turned and looked at me and said, \u201cWe are already brothers.”<\/i><\/p>\n

In that moment, I understood the hidden plan that God is unfolding, in time, for Muslim believers: that through Our Lady of Fatima (and Muhammad\u2019s daugher was named Fatima<\/i>), Muslims will come to embrace her Son, not as a prophet, but as He said He was: the Son of God. How this will be accomplished, we shall see…<\/p>\n

I once asked an old Ukrainian priest if he was concerned about the spread of Islam throughout the world. He didn\u2019t skip a beat. \u201cNo,\u201d he shrugged. \u201cThey are one cross away on their domes from becoming Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE HOUR OF THE SWORD<\/p>\n

Of course, it is a simplistic answer, especially in light of all that is unfolding before us in this hour: the fatal decline in birthrates in the West versus <\/i>the high birthrates of Muslims; the sudden huge \u201cmigrant\u201d spread across Europe, North America, and other parts of the world of Muslim \"\"\u201crefugees”; the rise of the Islamic caliphate (state) using terror and brutal violence in the Middle East and beyond; the steadfast rise of insanity in the West\u2014that is, political correctness<\/i> that is endangering the security of nations by ignoring the truth that some passages of the Koran and Hadith (sayings and teachings of Muhammad) sanction violence, rape, and plunder of so-called \u201cinfidels\u201d.<\/p>\n

Indeed, many owe Pope Benedict an apology for berating his speech at Regensburg in 2006 that called Muslims, and all religions, to faith and <\/i>reason in order to avoid the kind of religious fanaticism that is beginning to tear the world apart. In that speech, Benedict quoted an emperor who stated that what Muhammad had brought was “evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.\u201d [1]<\/sup><\/a>Regensburg, Germany, Sept. 12, 2006; Zenit.org<\/a><\/span><\/span>